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Note that the OP didn't say he was driving at the 70 mph speed limit. When he said "I have never been stopped for driving at the speeds we traveled", I assumed he was driving closer to 80 mph.Lastly, I’ve been driving EVs for 9 years and a Tesla for 3 years, including several Midwest winter road trips, and I’m still a bit surprised by just how far below the rated range the OP achieved. 70mph just isn’t that fast (and 55mph certainly isn’t) and 35F just isn’t that cold. :-\
You answered it yourself really. Cold weather and speed. This is basic battery chemistry (cold weather) and physics (speed). The power needed to move the car increases with the SQUARE of the speed, which means there is a HUGE difference between 60 and 70 mph energy draw. When you have time, try cruising carefully at 50, then 60 then 70 mph and examine the energy graph to see the difference.Jill and I went for our first long trip in our 2021 Model S LR yesterday. The trip covered 325 miles of roads with speed limits mostly between 55 and 70 mph. Close to half of that was on 70 mph highways. The car was set to Chill Mode and I have never been stopped for driving at the speeds we traveled. The temperature outside hovered around 35 degrees Fahrenheit and we kept the inside of the car at 68 F. My calculations show that we got 258 miles with 100% of a full charge (325 miles with 126%)! No where near the 405 miles of range advertised. And that doesn't even account for leaving enough charge to be able to safely reach a charger. Yes, we were traveling mostly at high speeds but we had hoped that these conditions wouldn't result in a 36% drop from the 405 miles advertised even with the cold weather. And I would have hoped that the estimated range would leave a safe reservoir to get to a charger. Much of the distance was spent on cruise control, so no heavy foot on the gas and light winds. Please explain.
We're dealing with the world of the EPA here .. the range isnt so much what you can expect, more how it compares to other EVs under controlled conditions. So, yeah, you didn't get the range you expected, but the same would have been true whatever EV you chose.Nasty how I never saw the word "fantasy" in the estimate.
Next winter road trip we'll just have to wear our winter weight coveralls.
While I'm not defending Tesla, it's worth remembering that every car maker has spent years gaming the EPA system .. ICE and EVs alike. Anyone who thinks other EV makers are "pure and unsullied" is being naive.There was lots of coverage about Tesla's gaming of the EPA range calculations (while remaining perfectly compliant) last year:
While I'm not defending Tesla, it's worth remembering that every car maker has spent years gaming the EPA system .. ICE and EVs alike. Anyone who thinks other EV makers are "pure and unsullied" is being naive.
Too short? It's the fastest way to road trip an ev. Longer stints require deeper charges, which are long since charging speed goes down as the battery fills up. By stopping less you'll arrive later. Weird, I know
I disagree, as all of my BMW’s have been rated for lower EPA mpg and all have easily bested the EPA mpg. Most of the time not even close, but in a good way.While I'm not defending Tesla, it's worth remembering that every car maker has spent years gaming the EPA system .. ICE and EVs alike. Anyone who thinks other EV makers are "pure and unsullied" is being naive.
Good advice, but for me traveling slower defeats the whole purpose and fun of having a fast EV vehicle. Never have to worry about traveling slower in ice cars.Actually, the smartest and best way to travel in an EV is to slow down. You cannot charge as fast as the extra energy you spend going faster (you will spend more time charging to replace the extra miles used than you saved by going faster). The only time this doesn't apply is when you can easily make it to your destination and there's a charger available there.
Also, using your method, you better not start off with a full battery. The closer to zero you are when you arrive at the charging station, the lesser you'll need to charge to reach the next supercharger.
Regardless, when traveling in an EV, driving slower gets you there faster. Though I admit that it's hard to do sometimes.
When edmunds tested driving to dead, Tesla faired better than before. Tesla (unfortunately) doesn’t have their zero miles left mean zero. In this test, they were able to get closer to EPA.Edmunds Tested: Electric Car Range and Consumption | Edmunds
Which EVs have the best electric car range? The EPA provides range estimates for every electric vehicle, but they don't test EV range in the real world -- and Edmunds does. Read all the latest real-world EV test results from the Edmunds experts.www.edmunds.com
Other manufacturers don’t seem to be so good at gaming…
Well… the rest of the year, Tesla owners can be blowing past you in your BMW.Good advice, but for me traveling slower defeats the whole purpose and fun of having a fast EV vehicle. Never have to worry about traveling slower in ice cars.
Driving on the Ohio Turnpike on Thanksgiving, the average speed was around 80+ with lots of cars going much faster. The only car I really saw going slowly on the whole trip was a Model 3. LOL. Thought to myself, one reason people buy Tesla’s is because of the performance, but then don’t get to enjoy the performance on a trip.
I will be dIrving my Model S that I pickup this Wen for performance/fun like my BMW’s and if that does not work out, then will sell it and wait until EV’s catchup. I would be jealous on a trip of other cars blowing past me and here I am in my $95k Model S driving the speed limit.
That's missing the point. Even after they fixed testing to Tesla's satisfaction, the Tesla cars barely made their rated range (some still came up short). Meanwhile, pretty much every other car manufacturer exceeded their rated range by a pretty wide margin under identical test conditions highlighting how Tesla is the only company willing to game the range ratings to have larger numbers that don't really hold up in the real world. Published range ratings from Tesla with their cars are nowhere near equivalent to those published by other EV manufacturers. The latter tend to publish range estimates that are actually achievable in real-world driving conditions unlike Tesla.When edmunds tested driving to dead, Tesla faired better than before. Tesla (unfortunately) doesn’t have their zero miles left mean zero. In this test, they were able to get closer to EPA.
Testing Tesla's Range Anxiety: Tesla Model Y, Model 3, VW ID.4, Ford Mach-E | Edmunds
When we published our real-world Edmunds EV range test, Tesla challenged our finding that its vehicles fell short of their EPA range estimates. Was the challenge valid? Here's the test we conducted to find out.www.edmunds.com
This just isn’t true any more.Actually, the smartest and best way to travel in an EV is to slow down. You cannot charge as fast as the extra energy you spend going faster (you will spend more time charging to replace the extra miles used than you saved by going faster).
100% (not the battery) agree!This just isn’t true any more.
Practically speaking, when traveling where charging stops are abundant I find the strategy @GtiMart describes to be easily the quickest - go as fast as you want, stop frequently, work the bottom half of the battery.
Consider a leg of a long trip where two cars leave a supercharger with 50% SoC and drive 100 miles to the next supercharger. One travels 80mph and one travels 65mph.
Travel time for the fast car is 1hr 15 minutes.
Travel time for the slow car is 1hr 32 minutes. (17 minute difference)
Using efficiency data from ABRP, a Model S 100D will use about 288 wh/mi at 65 mph and ~350 wh/mi at 80 mph. So the slow car uses 28.8kwh for the leg and the fast car uses 35.0kwh (difference of 6.2 kWh).
At ~120kw supercharging, it will take 3 minutes to make up for the extra energy used during this leg. Even if you’re only drawing 60kw, you’ll still recoup the extra energy more than twice over before the slower car arrives 17 minutes after you do.
Taking the strategy to the logical extreme: Go fast, stop frequently is the quickest by far.
A Rented Tesla Model S Just Shattered the EV Cannonball Record
Piloted by Ryan Levenson and Josh Allan, the Model S crossed the country in 42 hours and 17 minutes. That's two hours faster than the previous record, set in a Porsche Taycan.www.roadandtrack.com
This just isn’t true any more.
Practically speaking, when traveling where charging stops are abundant I find the strategy @GtiMart describes to be easily the quickest - go as fast as you want, stop frequently, work the bottom half of the battery.
Consider a leg of a long trip where two cars leave a supercharger with 50% SoC and drive 100 miles to the next supercharger. One travels 80mph and one travels 65mph.
Travel time for the fast car is 1hr 15 minutes.
Travel time for the slow car is 1hr 32 minutes. (17 minute difference)
Using efficiency data from ABRP, a Model S 100D will use about 288 wh/mi at 65 mph and ~350 wh/mi at 80 mph. So the slow car uses 28.8kwh for the leg and the fast car uses 35.0kwh (difference of 6.2 kWh).
At ~120kw supercharging, it will take 3 minutes to make up for the extra energy used during this leg. Even if you’re only drawing 60kw, you’ll still recoup the extra energy more than twice over before the slower car arrives 17 minutes after you do.
Taking the strategy to the logical extreme: Go fast, stop frequently is the quickest by far.
A Rented Tesla Model S Just Shattered the EV Cannonball Record
Piloted by Ryan Levenson and Josh Allan, the Model S crossed the country in 42 hours and 17 minutes. That's two hours faster than the previous record, set in a Porsche Taycan.www.roadandtrack.com
Apples and orangesYou conveniently left off the time it costs to actually stop at the supercharger. You counted 3 minutes. But, I'm not even going to stop because I started with a full charge. So unless you can teleport your car from the interstate to the supercharger, and then back onto the interstate, stopping will have a much greater cost than the 3 additional minutes. And it also depends on where the supercharger is. 10 minutes is the best case scenario.
You’re changing the argument to something completely different.You conveniently left off the time it costs to actually stop at the supercharger. You counted 3 minutes. But, I'm not even going to stop because I started with a full charge. So unless you can teleport your car from the interstate to the supercharger, and then back onto the interstate, stopping will have a much greater cost than the 3 additional minutes. And it also depends on where the supercharger is. 10 minutes is the best case scenario.